​MD Helicopters confirms Kenyan, Lebanese MD530 deals

MD Helicopters has confirmed orders from Kenya and Lebanon for a total of 12 MD530 light scout attack helicopters.

The deal with Kenya covers six MD530Fs, and the deal with Lebanon six MD530Gs, says MD Helicopters.

The Kenyan MD530Fs include 62mm ballistic protection, FN Herstal .50 caliber HMP 400 machine gun pods, and M260 seven-round rocket pods. They will also feature stores management systems and communications gear. Deliveries will take place between April 2019 and August 2019.

The Lebanese MD530Gs include roughly the same equipment as the Kenyan aircraft, but will also have a ballistically tolerant crashworthy fuel system, a Wescam laser designator, and Thales’s Scorpion helmet-mounted cueing system. In addition, they will be able to fire the BAE Systems 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) rocket.

Deliveries of the six Lebanese MD530Gs will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2020.

Both packages include initial logistics support and other related services.

The 12 helicopters are part of a $1.4 billion IDIQ (indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity) package signed with the US government in September 2017 that covers up to 150 MD530 rotorcraft for partner nations.

The Kenyan and Lebanese orders follow the delivery of five MD530Fs to the Afghan air force in August.